I'm down with the Super Best Friends Commenters! But I want the Chris Boshian role in this trio. Too much accountabitity to be had otherwise.

I'm with you all on NBA Jam as well. I think an additional week of my life after they released it as an app on the Iphone and Ipad. In addition to Shrempf, Mugsy Bogues was at least 3 times more famous as a result of NBA Jams.

If we don't go straight to thoughts being beamed to our heads, I'm sure the interim technology will be fed to us by Apple. "Siri, where will Dwight Howard play next year." Siri: "Dwight Howard had a bagel and listened to Jay-Z this morning, he's leaning towards Brooklyn, here are directions to Brooklyn?"

I really don't have a problem with Dwight leaving and I don't care what is owed either way. Dwight, Orlando, and the Magic organization have made a lot of $$ off each other and brought a lot people a great deal of joy.

I don't care if we lose Dwight and get nothing for him and we stink for the next few years. I was here for the end of Shaq, the end of Heart and Hustle, Grant Hill's ankle, T-mac's me-mac, and now Diva Dwight. I'm cool with it. It's part of the Magic's fabric and I wear that mess like a badge of honor. This franchise will be great again and maybe this time we don't just get close but we will actually pull it off.

Here's what does piss me off. Dwight's a liar, even if only by omission, and that the crap spewed by his camp is insulting if they think we believe it. He doesn't "just want to win". He doesn't "love Orlando". Because the fact of the matter is this organization has done nothing but prove it will do whatever it takes to win. The fact is, Orlando has poured out its heart and built a new arena for Dwight to play in.

What he wants, is to be a 26 year old, world famous, superstar, in one of the worlds largest and greatest cities. And you know what, there isn't a single thing in the world wrong with that. But just say that. Don't sell me a load of crap about just wanting to win. About loving Orlando.

You want to win, but you want to do it in world class market. You like Orlando just fine, but what you love is the idea of being a huge fish in a global sized pond. Cool.

Skip insulting us by saying that it's anything different.

Unless of course you decide to say, at which point, I guess I was wrong and I owe an apology...

Sorry I missed you with the questions these past couple weeks. Though I was starting to fear that MBW had gone away. And then I thought, what if my not sending questions was the last straw? Which would suck, because as I've mentioned I really like these articles. Plus I apparently have a very high opinion of my importance in the world, if I'm to think that my sending or not sending a question had that sort of effect on Danny's articles...

Also, I'm totally that white guy in the pick up game who calls for the ball in transition from the opposing team. I love that play!

Finally, I have to say that this Ellis stuff is killing me. Trading our (very limited) assets for a shooting guard on this team is like trying to fix an oil leak by putting new tires on your car. We need one of two things to happen. The corpses of Nelson and Turk to re-animate or a trade for an above average PG.

"This left Jameer to cross the finish line uncontested, whereupon he missed the final layup and fell down."

I had the, as it turned out, misfortune to read this article on my phone in the middle of the Tampa Convention Center this weekend. Because after I read that line I burst out laughing in the lobby for (apparently) no particular reason. The stares I could handle, however it did ruin my 'vention cred for the rest of the weekend!

High comedy, sir. Funny article all around. I really liked the article that you wrote about the organizing not really having a sense of direction right now either. I completely agree with what you wrote.

First off, and as always, another great article Danny! It's one of the very few I'll start checking in for on Friday's to see if it's up yet.

I'm right there with you on my ever growing Shaq hate. In Shaq's prime his cander and willingness to talk trash all the time was...amusing. Only because he could always back it up. He was the most dominant player in the game, and him calling the ever-flopping (Did I mention I was a fan of flopping...) Sacremento team the queens, or calling San Antonio the astericks was funny and it added to the rivalry. As he got older, less trim, and his skills/health declined his mouth got bigger. His talk didn't add to the competition it was just a distration. And then it wasn't so fun.

Obviously I could go on and on. But I will wrap up by saying his inclusion no the TNT staff is the real travesty here. He has nothing to contribute to that team, and what's worse, is he damn near single-handedly ruins what was the best sports panel (in any sport) out there!

I understand where you're coming from with the bonus foul discussion. The purest in me agrees. But it will never go away (and we all know it) because it adds excitement to the game. Even if it is at the expense of competitive fairness. Without the bonus foul we would never have gotten to see half of the late game heroics that are in the pantheon of the NBA's greatest moments. Again, not saying I like. I'm just saying I understand.

I concede the point that anything that adds time to the refs getting in the way of the game is a bad idea, and so I rescind my request that flopping be an in game technical. I revise it to say that the NBA should have a panel that reviews each game (just like it does for all of it's refs) and determines if any flops were, in fact, FLOPS. Then they can give them a tech and a fine (for trying to introduce Italian soccer into the NBA).

I like the article and I'm ashamed to admit that I'm gonna look at Ryan Anderson a little different now. I feel you on the water-filled comparison, but I think one should also point out the hairline and teeth difference as well. Ryno might be a perfect cross between Daredevil Afflect and The Fighter Christian Bale... Take from that whatever you will.

Garamond: My font of choice since undergrad. It's great if you're trying to get more words per page than you can from that lazy, uninspired bastard known as Arial, but not as corporate as Times New Roman. Fun times!

I'm with you and Carlo on the non-conference/non-division based playoffs. Seasons over, re-seed all the playoff teams 1-16 based on record and let's go. It does diminish the meaning of the divisions but who cares, it makes the playoffs that much better and truthfully that's when the higher entertainment value should count!

This is easily becoming one of my favorite columns to read each week! Great Job Danny.

I'm definitely going to try and think up a question for you. (This statement amounts to me saying that I intend to do something but probably won't, but would still like credit for saying that I had good intentions!).

Seems like we could make the case (right now at least) that defense all around is the major difference between this squad and the one from 2009. Anderson isn't the defender that Lewis was. Turk isn't quite there yet. JRich isn't as good as CLee. Jameer, nope. Davis is not as good as Gortat.

I think we're a better and more diverse offense, especially if Jameer's slump is of the shooting nature and not something larger.

@CarloSimone I agree about JR's psyche as well, but at some point (if he keeps playing like this) we're going to have to take that risk. But it's becoming increasingly evident that starting him is not going to lead to a championship level team.

I really, really, hope that someone cures Jameer of his "mononucleaic" like play, and soon!

Brilliant article! Very fun. Good job Danny. (mark me down as + 1 in the complimentary column).

Agree with you on the Westbrook trade. Disagree on the Washington game as being fun to watch. I love a Magic blowout as much as the next dude but it's no fun when you can tell the other team isn't trying.

I think Eddy hit the nail on the head. From all the chatter it's clear that Dwight doesn't "want" to leave. In fact I think his first preference would be to stay AND have a championship caliber team around him. The problem is he's not convinced that later can happen here. (As Eddy pointed out) this was the exact same situation as Kobe...and it wasn't long ago that Mitch Kupchek was being called one of the worst GM's in the league.

Otis isn't a bad GM. He got unlucky. The trade for Turk and JRich was a calculated move that didn't pan out. The downside is that he gave up his best trade chip (in Gortat) when making that deal. Lewis for Arenas was also a calculated move. Lewis wasn't getting us anywhere last year. Bass and Anderson were clearly outperforming him. He moved a player who was headed to the bench and picked up a player he hoped would be rejuvenated from a change of scenery. Moreso, Arenas' (former) strength was what we lacked most - a go to scorer.

Listen, when we railed off 13 straight wins all the media and fan chatter was that Otis was a genius and we were a championship caliber team. Obviously it didn't work out, but all of this railing against Otis as killing this team is stupid. "He should've traded for Dwill or CP3." Of course, but just because we think it's possible doesn't make it so! Trades are not approved by the fact that they work out in the NBA trade machine.

The true hero's are the ownership. Who haven't once flinched at dropping 10's of millions of dollars to acquire players and pay luxury tax to put a team around Dwight. We may not have the pieces that make a championship team right now. But that's not for lack of ownership's ponying up the cash to try.